Okay so it was more like 7 hours, but after 3 or 4 it all feels the same.

When the system fails
Due to a infuriatingly unexplained “glitch” in the automated e-checkin counter, the 10:20am United flight from Chicago left for San Jose with one less passenger this morning. Currently on my third stand-by attempt, I produced the follow observations for my own wifi starved amusement.

Big Brother uses email too
Chevy ad for Onstar Vehicle Diagnostics: My Chevy Truck blows through mud pits, eats cargo for lunch, and sends a monthly email that says how it’s doing. What does your truck do?
Well if that isn’t a reason for privacy advocates to grab their pitch forks, I don’t know what is. The vehicle will send emails without the users knowledge and with no vehicle based interface to proof the content prior to submission? Sure the point is to inform the user of problems, but who’s to say that’s all it’s sending…and who it’s sending to. We’ve all got small black boxes joining us for our daily drives, able to recall driving dynamics prior to an accident should one occur. Now those same reporting systems are able to transmit information too? Great. In a few years I’ll look forward to getting speeding tickets in the mail because my car ratted me out.

A.I., meet your dumber ancestor
The Lexus LS460 now includes a self-parking system. I’ve seen the TV commercial for a while, but how much is marketing fluff? My Car and Driver article here says it works, basically. Some user input is required to set visual makers on the touch LCD screen, and you must ride the brake to control speed since the system wont operate at full idle. 5-10 minutes later, like magic, you’re parked. For starters, why wouldn’t you just have an auto regulated “park speed”? After all that chances are someone with a Kia stole your spot while you were trying to convince your $70,000 luxury liner to park. BTW, who’s liable if the computer is driving and it hits a parked car? You or some programmer who knocked off early to play World of Warcraft instead of debugging that last bit of code? Like most revolutionary things, v2.0 will undoubtedly be much improved and like all revolutionary things, it will be criticized right up until everyone is doing it. USB on a computer, but why? DB-9 is great!

Bullet proof wheels
Ad for the new Goodyear Eagle tires explaining how carbon fiber and kevlar layers inside the tire make for less noise and a safer, smoother ride. In a year when inflation raised my rent $100, you’re telling me that a tire made with carbon fiber and kevlar isn’t any more expensive than last years model? That’s a good one. Now if only it looked liked carbon fiber instead of ruber, that’d be a sure fire Christmas gift for the Ricer on your list.

Hyundai Quality
Ad: Great things happen when 362 robots put their microchips together. Assuming this is an attempt to notify american consumers that Hyundai has the technical prowess of automated assembly, is this not countered by today’s trend to show that higher quality items are hand made? That new Jag comes with hand stitched leather seats and all the furniture in my South Hampton summer home is hand lathed. The associated cold, mechanical style visual contributes to producing an ad that feels lifeless and uninvolved. Much like their product. Finally, truth in advertising.

On to stand-by attempt #4.

I read somewhere that roughly 90% of the worlds population believe in a higher power taking the form of one deity or another. Each seems to have a slightly overlapping set of guidelines, goals, and overall sense of purpose for coming together on weekly or daily basis. While I exist in the 10% minority, it appears to me that the regular congregation seems largely to offer one primary purpose—support. Life is sometimes full of strife and would be difficult to overcome some of the challenges without some form of emotional and physical support. Religion in it’s most basic form seems architected to provide that very kind of structure and support to the masses. Many pray on a regular basis offering thanks for what they have, but it seems a natural instinct to look to a higher power in times of dire need. How many times have you seen someone on a TV show or movie “pray to God” that if God will help them _______ they’ll never ______ again. It’s an illustration of human nature, proving that we all need help and sometimes it’s easier to look externally to find strength. Many turn to the Almighty which offers a never ending resource of strength and support. Religion promises to put like minded people in a room together to talk about their times of joy, and their hardships. Beyond the social support dynamic, the religious person is also offered a sense of solace while away from the group and draws upon it when they feel scared, alone, loose self confidence in their ability, or feel that something is totally out of their control. So they turn to their support system, perhaps pray, and in the end they search for aid, for answers, and for the strength to overcome their current obstacle.

But where do the rest of us go to draw upon this kind of support? If not God, who exists in our life to provide the kind of fortitude necessary to endure life’s challenges? Where is our guide? Where is our source of unwavering strength which we can look upon when needed and regain our self confidence and be reassured of victory over difficult times?

To your Ranger Bob, of course. Simplistic in outward appearance Ranger Bob is just that, a park ranger named Bob. But like the religions mentioned above, much more lies beneath the surface. I met Ranger Bob a few years ago. I don’t claim to know him well. But it’s clear from what I’ve seen and from what I’ve been told that he is a person who exudes the things we all need: wisdom, strength, camaraderie, and of course, unquestionable support. More than a single person, Ranger Bob is an idea. A much more earthly concept than Him, it’s an idea that in each of our lives there exists someone who offers aged advice, knows when to listen, and never doubts your ability. Like prayer, used in the right amount this person can offer you hope, return your self confidence, and help to show you the way through life’s sticky situations.

Also like prayer, I think our Ranger Bob’s can be abused. Sometimes we spend too much time drawing on their support and forget to acknowledge all they do for us. So make a mental note and if you haven’t thanked your Ranger Bob lately, it might be due time.

Happy 69th R.B.

So it’s been 5 months since my last post, but don’t worry it’s not what you think. I have a good excuse. Honest. You see, there was this starving puppy and the rain forests are in such need I thought if I just - eh, nevermind.

7 months ago an idea was born, and 3 weeks ago we shared the idea with the rest of the world. 7 months of emails, IMs, phones calls and caffeinated late nights, affectionally remembered as “damn, is that 4 AM?!”. To watch something develop from half thought to a fully developed product is truly an amazing process and I look forward to discussing the past, present, and future of this project, here where the tumbleweed has ruled for far too long. When we neared public launch of the site I had many friends and family ask a series of questions, who’s answers I thought might be an appropriate way to kick things off. In no particular order:

Q: Cute domain name, but what is it?
A: A one of a kind, local product and service directory allowing Corvette owners to find anything they need for their vehicle, right in their own city.

Q: Brilliant. Where did you come up with this idea?
A: It was probably the closest thing to a 50/50 joint idea as I’ve ever had. My partner said “12 free things” (a directory of free things to do in a particular city), I said “sounds neat but it needs spark plugs and a steering wheel.” For some time I had been frustrated that I couldn’t find a good referral for a Corvette mechanic. Mix aggressively for 7 months, stir twice and serve.

Q: How many of you worked on this project?
A: 2.8. If you’re wondering about the .8, consider how DTS sound systems get their .1 or .2 and you’ll start to get the idea. They may not be the source of the primary audio, but they’re just as important.

Q: Your primary partner was 2500 miles away, what complex project management tools did you use to help coordinate your efforts over such a vast distance?
A: No, we did not use Basecamp. We used a little app known as TextEdit. A full featured PM tool with a steep learning curve, but somehow we managed to master it.

Q: I saw you had a page counting down to the launch date of the site. Was it just me or did the counter seem to count to zero and suddenly show a few more days left?
A: It was…um, er…it was a bug in the script, yea, that’s it. It was a bug Dave.

Q: Clearly you didn’t get all of your information about these companies online. It’s so specific and offers so many details about each company, not even Google has done this - how did you get the information about each listing you have?
A: With this. Old school, ain’t it?

Q: It seemed like you had some really late nights/early mornings working on this, what does sleep deprivation feel like?
A: Ever go on an acid trip? Me neither, but I imagine them to be similar.

Q: Are you going to expand to offer similar sites to other car models?
A: Gee, let me think…

Q: What made you choose Corvette as your first car type?
A: Next question please.

Q: If you did expand to other car models, what would they be?
A: Preferably anything with more than 6 cylinders, but that might be a bad business decision.

Q: Did your personal life suffer due to the long work hours?
A: Only mostly. Except for my lovely girlfriend who was patient, understanding, and helped whenever I asked. I’ll hopefully get something neat for that response.

Q: So what’s your revenue stream?
A: We’ll let you know when we have one.

Q: What’s your go-to-market plan?
A: Know anyone who owns a Corvette? It’d be great if you could send them here:

http://localvette.net